Thursday, January 09, 2014

New column day

Here, on how well-planned public infrastructure and a strong community spirit have helped Saskatchewan through weather that's caused far more problems elsewhere - and how we're in danger of losing that advantage.

For further reading...
- The obvious point of comparison is the spate of problems faced by Toronto - including widespread power outages, and flight delays and cancellations. And the provincial government is now handing out gift cards to make up for what people lost due to the power issues.
- In contrast, Saskatchewan's main cities have seen some short and scattered power issues, along with what doesn't seem to be much more than normal traffic problems.
- Finally, while the point didn't make it into the final column, I'll note that we should take a similar view toward social infrastructure as toward physical infrastructure: it's better to invest in somewhat more than the bare minimum, lest optimistic assumptions be proven wrong when we can least afford it. And on that point, Saskatchewan has as much room for improvement as any jurisdiction.